Could an infant acquire meningitis if was handles by a person who has active lesions genital herpes?
Herpes viruses can be a source of meningitis with encephalitis. If the infant did not also have encephalitis, then no, the illness did not come from the person with the active lesions.
Meningitis is usually caused by viruses or bacteria that infect the tissues (meninges) and sometimes the cerebral spinal fluid. Most of the people affected are infected with viruses that commonly live in the intestines (enteroviruses). These viruses cause no problems in their normal environment but when they are passed through food, water, or contaminated objects, they affect the meninges. Meningitis caused by enteroviruses occurs most often in babies and young children.
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